Posts Tagged ‘Congress’

Legislative Update: House Passes FY14 Budget Proposal; House Passes Continuing Resolution

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

House Passes FY14 Budget Proposal
The House yesterday moved to pass H.Con.Res.25 to establish the budget for the U.S. government for FY 14 and set forth appropriate budgetary levels for FY 15 through FY 23. Chairman Ryan’s budget proposal for FY14, with 221 votes cast in favor of the measure and 207 votes against it. Ten Republicans voted against passage. As reported in a previous blog post, H.Con.Res.25 proposes an 11.7 percent reduction in overall non defense discretionary (NDD) spending in FY14, which includes Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) funding. The Senate is currently debating amendments to their own budget proposal (S.Con.Res.8).Once the final version passes in the Senate, a Conference Committee will be held to discuss differences between the House and Senate proposals and for compromise to be reached.

Houses Passes Continuing Resolution
The House yesterday also passed the Senate-approved Continuing Resolution. This decision means the bill is passed to President Obama to sign. The bill, which will presumably be signed into law, would not require any additional cuts to Perkins other than the already agreed upon 5 percent cut from sequestration.

David Beckett, Advocacy Manager

By admin in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Senate Passes Continuing Resolution; House Republican and Democrat FY14 Budget Proposals; Senate Democrat FY14 Budget Proposals; President’s FY14 Budget Proposal

Thursday, March 21st, 2013
Senate Passes Continuing Resolution

On March 20, the Senate voted 73-26 to pass its version of the FY13 continuing resolution (CR). This CR would see all Department of Education programs funded at their FY13 levels and then cut 5% by the sequester. It is important to note that the Senate passed CR does not include the 0.098% across the board cut that was included in the House approved CR.

The House must now decide whether or not to accept the Senate version, which would mean dropping the 0.098% across the board cut,  and pass the bill to the President to sign or to try to work across the chambers to resolve the differences between the two proposals. NASDCTEc will continue to monitor this ever-changing and very active policy environment and provide you with more information on the emerging budget and sequestration decisions being made. Because the Perkins Act is forward funded, the decisions made with this CR would effect the funding that states get on July 1, 2013.

House Republican and Democrat FY14 Budget Proposals

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) recently announced his plan for the FY14 budget (H.Con.Res.25). The measure, which passed through the House Budget Committee last week on a party line vote of 22-17, is expected to be voted on later today and would see an 11.7% reduction in overall non defense discretionary (NDD) spending in FY14. NDD spending includes all education and workforce funding, including Perkins. Budget proposals generally do not provide recommendations for program level increases or decreases but instead provide a broad framework, an overall cap on spending, and guidelines for where investments should be made. The Ryan budget proposal does not provide details on which programs would be reduced to achieve the 11.7% reduction in NDD, so it is unclear of the implications of this proposal on Perkins funding. The Ryan proposal does recommend moving the Community College/TAA Grant program, which is administered by the Department of Labor, to the discretionary side of the budget; it is currently on the mandatory side of the budget.

Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, had offered up an alternative budget proposal on behalf of House Democrats that would rescind the sequestration cuts. The proposal recommended maintaining the current investment in education programs and also lacks the detail necessary to know what impact would be had on Perkins funding, however the House yesterday rejected the Van Hollen budget along with all other budget substitutes.
Senate Democrat FY14 Budget Proposals

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) also announced her plan for the FY14 budget (S.Con.Res.8). The proposal would see the sequester eliminated, resulting in more Perkins funding in future years than currently expected. It would also see $4 trillion in savings reached over ten years, as had been recommended by the Simpson-Bowles Commission. Debate on the measure had been held up until the Senate had passed a bill on the FY13 continuing resolution. Under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, 50 hours of debate are allowed on the budget, meaning deliberations could go on until Saturday evening. The divide between the political parties is clear when comparing the budget proposals, with fierce debates expected as the measures move forward. Once both the House and the Senate pass their respective proposals, a Conference Committee will be held, allowing differences between the proposals to be discussed and for compromise to be reached.


President’s FY14 Budget Proposal
The President’s FY14 budget proposal has yet to be released. Typically, this proposal is released in early February and kicks off the budget debates. However, the President’s proposal, expected in early to mid-April, will be coming along when the Congressional debates may well be complete.
David Beckett, Advocacy Manager

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Sequestration Updates

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012

New Sequester Report

 

The House Appropriations Committee Democrats recently released a new sequestration report – A Report on Consequences of Sequestration – that examines the impact of sequestration on a number of federal programs. In the education sphere, the report does not discuss Perkins or CTE, but does say that Title I Grants would be cut by more than $1 billion, impacting over 4,000 schools serving nearly 2 million disadvantaged students. In the Labor Department, cuts to Job Corps would reduce by approximately 4,300 the number of at-risk youth served.

 

Bipartisan Group of Senators Working on Deal

 

The so-called “Gang of Six,” which has been meeting to devise a bipartisan grand bargain on deficit reduction has added two more members to their ranks – Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE). It is unclear what kind of leverage the group will have during the lame duck session when Congress re-convenes to find an alternative to sequestration.

 Nancy Conneely, Director of Public Policy

 

By admin in Public Policy
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New CRS Report Highlights NASDCTEc Work

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), which provides reports and analyses to Members of Congress on a variety of policy issues, recently released a new report on Career Technical Education. The goal of the report, Career and Technical Education: A Primer, is to “support congressional discussion of initiatives designed to rationalize the workforce development system.”

The report provides an overview of CTE, walks through the delivery and structure of CTE at the secondary, postsecondary, and adult learner levels, and raises several issues facing CTE stakeholders. For example, according to the report, there are four concerns that may hinder CTE delivery at the secondary level: (1) what is the goal of CTE – to broaden the students’ education and provide early exposure to several career options or to ensure students are prepared to enter the workforce, (2) the expense of maintaining and updating the instructional resources and equipment, (3) whether CTE adds value to a college preparatory high school curriculum, and (4) that the common core standards do not define career-ready and thus may not provide immediate career preparation.

While explaining the National Career ClustersTM Framework, the report references data from NASDCTEc’s 2011 issue brief, Career Clusters and Programs of Study: State of the States. The data for this issue brief was culled from the 2010 State Profile survey. We administer this survey to our members every other year to collect a wealth of information to be used in updating the State Profiles, and to provide the basis for a number of issue briefs. We are pleased that CRS was able to utilize our data in their report!

In the section “College- and Career-Ready Standards and CTE Standards” the report highlights NASDCTEc and NCTEF’s work around the Common Career Technical Core (CCTC) as one of the two set of standards impacting CTE students. As stated in the CRS report, the CCTC was developed by 42 states, the District of Columbia, Palau, business and industry representatives, educators, and other stakeholders, and it provides standards for each of the 16 Career ClustersTM and their career pathways.

Nancy Conneely, Director of Public Policy

By admin in Public Policy, Publications
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OMB Releases Sequestration Report

Friday, September 14th, 2012

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this afternoon released the OMB Report Pursuant to the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, as required by Congress. According to OMB’s estimates, non-exempt nondefense discretionary federal programs will be cut by 8.2 percent if sequestration occurs on January 2, 2013. The report does not get down to the program level, so we do not have official numbers on the amount the Perkins could be cut, but based on our rough estimates, Perkins could be reduced by approximately $92 million. The total cut to Department of Education programs would be $4.113 billion.

OMB’s determination that the cut from sequestration would be 8.2 percent is based on the assumption that FY13 discretionary spending will be at FY12 levels. However, as we told you earlier this week, the 6 month continuing resolution increases FY13 spending 0.612 percent above FY12 levels. Therefore, the final sequestration percentage will likely be slightly different than 8.2 percent.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Public Policy
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Senate Hearing Focuses on College Affordability; Witness Calls for Streamlining Federal Reporting Requirements

Friday, September 14th, 2012

At a hearing this week — Improving College Affordability: A View From the States – members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee heard from higher education stakeholders about the obstacles that keep postsecondary education out of reach for many students. Dr. Camille Preus, Commissioner of the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, spoke about how the Federal government can encourage and support states in making postsecondary education more affordable:

The federal government also could help states in their efforts to be more efficient by aligning the various reporting requirements that it imposes on institutions of higher education. These requirements differ for various programs, such as the HEA and the Workforce Investment and the Carl D. Perkins Act, and these in turn differ from information that states themselves require. A concerted effort needs to be undertaken to eliminate these inefficiencies. Many community colleges have only one individual who is responsible for meeting all reporting requirements. Sometimes states becoming directly involved in providing needed information. In addition, the federal government needs to be much more aggressive in ensuring that appropriate state educational entities have access to data that will enable them, in concert with institutions, to identify the earnings of students after they have left institutions. These data in turn will help colleges to maximize resource allocation.

In the context of better aligning workforce and training programs, NASDCTEc has also recommended that common measures across programs such as WIA, Perkins, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and Adult Education would provide more interconnectivity in the workforce system as programs collaborate and work together to ensure the alignment of goals. Our recommendaitons also call for data sharing across federal programs in order to ease the burden that programs and providers face in collecting accountability information, and foster an environment of collaboration and efficiency in the workforce and education systems.

By admin in Public Policy
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Congress Releases Six Month Funding Bill

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

This week the House Appropriations Committee released a six month continuing resolution that will fund government programs until March 27, 2013 at FY12 levels plus an across-the board increase of 0.612%. This increase is the result of the bill adhering to the spending levels set forth in the Budget Control Act, as well as unanticipated revenues in FY12 that will carry forward to FY13.  The House is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow, with the Senate voting on it next week. The bill is expected to pass both chambers easily.

While this is good news, passage of this bill does not mean that Perkins will not see cuts in FY13. Cuts could still be included in the final spending bill to be worked out after Congress returns in January. With the uncertainty of the election and what impact it will have on the balance of power in both the White House and Congress, we do not know if Perkins will be targeted for cuts in 2013. This means that we must remain diligent in our efforts to educate Members of Congress on the value of CTE.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation
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OMB Delays Release of Sequestration Report

Friday, September 7th, 2012

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was scheduled to release a report on the impact of sequestration yesterday, as required by the Sequester Transparency Act. However, that did not happen, and it is now looking like it will not be released until late next week. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney had this to say:

“Given the time needed to address the complex issues involved in preparing the report, the administration will be submitting that report to Congress late next week. No amount of planning changes the fact that sequester would have devastating consequences. We need to deal with our fiscal challenges in a balanced way.”

We will let you know when the report is released, and what it has to say about the impact of sequestration on Perkins Act funding.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Public Policy
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NASDCTEc Webinar: Federal Funding Update: FY 13 and Sequestration

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

Over the last several years federal funding for many programs, including Perkins, has been slashed. Following this trend of shrinking budgets along with the looming threat of sequestration, Fiscal Year 13 could result in more cuts. Join Nancy Conneely, NASDCTEc’s Public Policy Manager, as she walks you through the federal funding maze. During this webinar you will hear about Fiscal Year 13 federal funding, the Budget Control Act, and sequestration.

When: Tuesday, September 25th at 3 p.m. ET

To register, please go to: https://nasdcte.adobeconnect.com/_a998116607/fedfunding/event/event_info.html

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Webinars
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Workforce Wednesdays: Get Involved!

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

Join NASDCTEc and the more than 40 other national organizations that make up the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce for “Workforce Wednesdays,” each Wednesday in August.

CTE and workforce development programs are an important part of the nation’s economic recovery and job creation effort, yet our nation’s investments in the skills of its people are at risk. Non-defense discretionary programs—including education and workforce programs—face at least $55 billion in funding cuts as of January 2013 due to the Budget Control Act, and efforts to protect funding for defense programs could double the size of these cuts. Key policymakers have even proposed eliminating dozens of federal workforce programs. It is critically important that we help policymakers understand why investments in CTE and workforce development programs are important and how these investments impact their local communities.

Participate in Workforce Wednesdays by taking action—it can be as simple as calling your Senators or Representative or, even better, arranging a site visit  — but just take action on one or more Wednesdays during the month of August. Stand united with NASDCTEc and the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce in support of adequate funding for CTE, adult education and workforce training programs!

Members of Congress will be in their home districts during the month of August.  Contact your Senators and Representative today to arrange an in-district meeting, a site visit, or engage in a direct conversation with in-district staff to let them know where you stand on funding for CTE and training programs. Or let your local community know why these investments matter by submitting an op-ed or letter to the Editor to your local paper. What you do isn’t as important as that you do something, so take action as part of Workforce Wednesdays in August!


RESOURCES

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FY13 Funding Request Sheet

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